NO AID TO COLOMBIA - NO FUMIGATION

BACKGROUND. For the past forty years, conflict has smoldered between left-wing guerilla groups and the Colombian armed forces. Increasingly, right-wing  paramilitary groups-- often made up of retired armed forces personnel-- have entered the conflict. 35,000 civilians have lost their lives in the conflict since 1990, and thousands more have been displaced from their homes by violence.

US INVOLVEMENT In the guise of a war on drugs, the United States has become partners with the Colombian armed forces in a counter-narcotics campaign that is devastating the country and stepping up the levels of violence on all sides. The two-year, $1.3 billion aid package goes almost entirely to the Colombian military. It also includes money to fund fumigation efforts, in which spray planes drop herbicides on coca farms. While the military and fumigation aid has been flowing since December, the funds for alternative development-which would provide farmers with an opportunity to grow crops other than coca-have yet to be delivered to Colombia.

THE CURRENT US POLICY IS INEFFECTIVE Fumigation penalizes communities without solving the problem of coca cultivation or the poverty that motivates it. The problem will not be solved simply by designating more money to fund alternative development; fumigation must be stopped. In addition to ending fumigation, the United States must rethink its militarized counter-narcotics strategy in Colombia. Drugs abuse and related violence pose a terrible threat to our communities, and must be addressed. A military solution does not and will not work. Funding the Colombian government and especially the armed forces only steps up the levels of violence, reversing the work of the negotiated peace process. Furthermore, the aid package does not help resolve problems of drug abuse and drug violence in our own country. While supply may be reduced in Colombia, as long as demand continues, coca cultivation will simply move to a new area. Meanwhile, addicts in the United States face long waiting lists for treatment.
 
SAY NO AID- MILITARY or SO CALLED DEVELOPMENT AID. WHY?
The Colombian armed forces has a history of human rights violations and maintains close ties to paramilitary groups, who are responsible for 78% of political killings in Colombia. Rewarding the armed forces with aid discourages them from making reforms and backing the peace process. Economic aid of any kind while impunity exists is just such a reward.  Aid under the guise of “development” is used to support the status quo. Aid escalates violence, as guerilla forces step up actions to combat a more powerful army, paramilitaries retaliate, and civilians are caught in the crossfire. No aid until there is an end to military & para-military violence with impunity.
 
SAY NO TO FUMIGATION. WHY?
Spray planes drop a substance containing the herbicide glyphosate on farms that cultivate coca, but the herbicide also kills their food crops. Communities have complained that people, homes, schools, wells, and livestock are also being fumigated by the spray planes. Some 12 alternative development projects were fumigated and destroyed by US fumigation since December 2000. Sicknesses are being reported in humans, especially children, and animals after the spraying. Without food, communities must move to new areas and plant coca to survive. There are also devastating environmental effects of fumigation: the spraying is being carried out in one of the most ecologically bio-diverse regions of the world,
 the Amazon basin, with long-term effects on water, soil, and plant growth.

ACTION:

• Write or call your Congressperson to tell them to vote AGAINST any additional aid to Colombia military even under the guise of “development” or aid for fumigation activities. (Unlike last year’s aid package, which was a specific Colombia bill, this year’s aid to Colombia will be broken up in various appropriations bills, with the largest share included in the foreign operations bill. There will NOT be a specific Colombia bill. We need to tell our members to send the US entire drug policy back to the drawing board.) Our members of Congress will vote soon on whether to support President Bushís budget request; we must demand now that our tax dollars not be spent violating human rights in Colombia.

• The current drug policy has caused numerous problems abroad, but also fails on its own terms. The military aid package escalates violence in Colombia, including civilian deaths and displacement. Since President Clinton’s package was implemented paramilitary massacres have skyrocketed. It does not support the peace process.
• Fumigation is not an effective way to eradicate coca. Thousands of families have been left hungry by fumigation efforts that kill off their subsistence crops, and must move to other areas to grow coca in order to survive. Demand for drugs in the United States will not be decreased through source-country eradication. As long as the demand exists, people will move to grow coca in order to meet that demand.

• Support for human rights defenders in Colombia -- who endure daily threats, intimidation, and violence -- and opposition to continued U.S. military aid to the government that does not protect them.

• Support initiatives that respect human rights and address social and economic problems in Colombia. At the same time, we must improve drug treatment and prevention at home.

You can look up your senators and representatives on the web at www.house.gov  or www.senate.gov
For more information: www.LAWG.org

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